Versatile Citrine; The Romance of Labradorite

Citrines are a favorite gemstone of mine; yes, it seems as though I say this about so many gemstones, but citrine is one of the gemstones I wear 2 or 3 times every week.  It is a versatile gemstone that can look dressy or casual and despite its being yellow, it works well with a lot of different clothing.  The citrine bracelet here has a touch of garnet (another very versatile stone) that grounds it. The three strands of the bracelet feature faceted nuggets of citrine in different sizes, faceted citrine rondelles, smooth rondelles, an artist's lampwork bead as a focal point and tiny little sterling silver Thai Karen Hill Tribes beads.  The final touch is a sterling toggle clasp that has cabochon citrines set into the ends of the toggle bar. Citrine really looks great with beige and khaki, pops with black, and lends a sparkle to white.

I have been working with labradorite quite a bit lately. I find labradorite a romantic gemstone that works greatly on my imagination.  My mind dwells on northern climes, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Canada, and I think of the fairy tales I read as a child about Hans and Gerda, the Snow Queen, and the reindeer of Lapland. I have a romantic image of these Northern countries to this day and cannot wait to visit Scandanavia (alas, it's not high on the list of friends and family who prefer tropical locations). Labradorite will forever remind me of the Aurora Borealis with its flash of blue and other cool colors. The labradorite bracelet, above and below, is made of two strands of labradorite and sterling silver. Every gemstone has been chosen for flash, and the crowning glory of this bracelet is a flashy toggle clasp of sterling silver with a bezel-set labradorite gemstone in the toggle ring.

When I first got this lavender tinted faceted rectangles, I thought to myself, whatever will I do with these? They are an odd color and seem to change color a bit with the light. But I still loved them nonetheless and kept them where I could see them because I found them pleasurable to look at. Then I saw these artist's lampwork beads and realized that they were perfect for the chalcedony. With a minimum of sterling silver so as to let the chalcedony be the star, the necklace is mainly the lampwork, three focals, and the faceted rectangles. It is an odd piece of jewelry, unusual in its color, but one that I find compelling in its difference.

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Jewelry for My Valentine!

Cluny Grey Jewelry has a special Valentine Jewelry page on the site, though every piece of jewelry on the entire site would be a perfect Valentine's Day gift for someone! We have a few pieces on this page that you won't find anywhere else on the site yet, and a few jewelry pieces that are there because they are pink, red, peach or have hearts or some theme that seems to target love or romance. These are just a few offerings on the page. First, one of our favorite necklaces made with Swarovski crystals that you won't find anywhere else on the site. The Swarovski crystals are pink and pale golden shadow and work beautifully together especially since those are the two colors found in the special artist's lampwork heart that is the focal of the necklace (close-up picture is above). Sterling silver filigree beads are pretty, feminine and perfect for this necklace.

Pink also plays a major role in this charm bracelet on our Valentine Jewelry page. The bracelet itself is made of oval links of sterling silver from the Thai Karen Hill Tribes (with a much higher silver content than is required by law here in the USA). The Swarovski crystals are sparkling pink rondelles grouped romantically in twos and alternated with different sterling silver hearts, three from the Thai Karen Hill Tribes. For the closing touch, a lobster clasp (sterling, of course) in the shape of a heart holds it all together!

Above is another charm bracelet, this one with a sterling silver double-linked chain (you can add more charms to it later if you wish) and little bezel-set, cabochon garnet charms and heart charms from the Thai Karen Hill Tribes.
Below, a very dainty sterling silver charm bracelet features mostly open hearts hanging from a chain whose links are hearts. One large faceted briolette of red chalcedony hangs from the center of the bracelet. A ropey toggle clasp is the closure (all sterling).

 

Swarovski crystals just seem right for Valentine's Day for some reason.  The necklace above features an artist's lampwork heart (from Laffingull) in a pretty opal-like pink color sprinkled with black.  Taking a cue from the heart, Swarovski crystals in rosewater opal pink and jet black make up the necklace itself, along with sterling silver from Bali.  For an extra special touch, a double-triangle sterling toggle clasp has a cabochon onyx embedded in the toggle.
Below, more Swarovski crystals sparkle in this Valentine Jewelry. The Swarovski crystal hearts in copper, crystal, and red form the centerpiece of the necklace. Two little copper Swarovski butterflies appear to be flying up the sides of the necklace which is formed of more Swarovski crystals and little tiny sterling beads from the Thai Karen Hill Tribes.

The bracelet below features one of Cluny's favorite chains that she uses when she makes jewelry for herself. It is a twisted 14 karat gold-filled chain with largish oval links; the twisted 14 karat gold-filled toggle clasp is a perfect match for the chain. The bracelet features only two charms: one is a beautiful Swarovski crystal cross in golden shadow, the other a puffed 14 karat gold-filled heart.  It's classic and simple and perfect for someone of Christian faith.

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Jewelry To Blog About!

Who has time to blog when she is busy making jewelry? Certainly not I! And that explains my absence from this blog for a while. I have been busy making beauty as I hope that you will attest. Of course, I have been busy with some amethysts since they are the birthstone for February - and also since I love to work with amethysts anyway. The top bracelet is a beautiful, gem-quality amethyst bracelet made with cushion-cut amethysts and sterling silver.  It almost hurt me to make it because I love these amethysts so much that I want to make them into jewelry but keep them at the same time!  Once they are made into a bracelet such as this, it's as if those the amethysts no longer belong to me, and of course, I hope that they will go out in the world and be worn on someone's wrist with pride - but I will miss them.
  Below, this amethyst bracelet has some more of my favorite amethysts, but these couldn't be more different.  The three large, flat, flaceted slabs of amethyst that you see here have inclusions and are far from perfect. But they are translucent if a trifle cloudy in places, and I love them. And yes, I bought a lot of them so that the first thing that I did was to use a few to make a bracelet (with gold) for myself. The amethyst bracelet below is for sale though, and features not just 14 karat gold-filled accents, but also some of Robin Weber's fantastic lampwork beads with silver leaf.  They are so gorgeous.

I've been working quite a bit with abalone as well and I thought I would try the two together: abalone and amethyst, it seemed like a good mix, especially when I saw the abalone embedded in this pendant with its pretty purple iridescence, and with the purple cabochon bezel-set in sterling silver at the bottom of the pendant. I was so taken with the pendant that I decided to use just the elements in the pendant for the abalone necklace. Sterling silver, abalone and freshwater pearl sticks. It really is a looker!

And as usual with me, one thing leads to another. I kept looking at the abalone and freshwater pearls together and decided that I would like to put together something with their wonderful contrast of light and dark iridescence, so the necklace below was born. It's a classic, so much better than just a plain pearl necklace!

To end on colorful note, here is a piece of chalcedony jewelry I am wild about! This bracelet is all chalcedony and sterling silver and just as colorful as it can be.  I especially love the focal faceted nugget of aqua chalcedony. To make it even more special, I added a colorful gemstone toggle clasp in sterling silver.

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